A Study in Green: Kris Joseph, Jarvis Varnado & Darko Milicic

In this week’s addition to A Study In Green, we talk about former Celtics Kris Joseph, Jarvis Varnado and Darko Milicic.

The Good

Joseph‘s start for the Celtics in the 2012 NBA Summer League was promising. in the Orlando Summer League, Joseph played 5 games, averaging 9.4 points per game and 5.8 rebounds per game. In his 10 games for the Maine Red Claws he averaged 17.7 points per game and 2.9 rebounds per game. This was a solid performance from someone who was still developing as a player. Upon his return to the Celtics, he showed flashes of improvement during garbage time. Thus, it came as a surprise when the Celtics waived Joseph.

For Varnado, he was signed by the Celtics from the Sioux Falls Skyforce on Christmas Eve to add depth to the Celtics thinning front court after the injury of Chris Wilcox and the departure of Darko Milicic. It was believed that Varnado would add some flair to the Celtics line up, bringing in his shot-blocking ability which made had earned him the NCAA Division I Record for most shots blocked.

As for Darko, well, we hardly knew ye. (Ed: other than the preseason Europe games, where he did reasonably well.)

The Bad

In the end, both Joseph and Varnado failed to break into the Celtics rotation. They only played a handful of games in green with most of the minutes coming in garbage time. As a result, they were unable to cement their spot in the team and were subsequently waived on January 6.

Darko sustained a wrist injury early on and failed to recover, and was eventually released from the team due to personal matters.

The Verdict

It’s hard to judge a player’s ability based on the limited minutes they played. Joseph looked like he had great potential if he was given more minutes. He ended up finding his way back to the Celtics in the Garnett, Pierce and Terry trade, only to be waived again. Joseph is an example of why the basketball lifestyle isn’t always glamorous. In the past 14 months of his pro career, Joseph has signed 5 contracts, one in Boston, one in Maine, two in Brooklyn and one in China.

In Varnado’s case, he was only there to fill up space in the roster. Being waived was probably the best thing that ever happened to him because he was signed by the Miami Heat shortly after, scoring himself an NBA Championship ring for just for being on the roster.

Finally, as for Darko Milicic… we’re all still left scratching our heads wondering if he would have ever made an impact.